Guest blogging services can get a bad rap. Some fear they are too spammy may cost a lot, and are low quality. Still, guest blogging has survived the many changes that digital marketing has undergone over the years and is still quite popular. So why didn’t guest blogging go the way of the dinosaurs?
Marketers stopped wasting time on low-quality guest blogging and instead began investing in guest blogging services with a focus on quality rather than quantity.
If you are considering adding guest blogging services to your list of marketing tools to generate leads and win customers, this is what you need to know.
What Do Guest Blogging Services Provide?
Before you can determine whether guest blogging services are worth it, it helps to get an idea of what exactly blogging services offer.
The best guest blogging services provide:
- Quality blogs that deliver targeted content, provide advice and show you as an expert on a topic.
- Quality backlinks to help develop search engine optimization (SEO) efforts
- Increased traffic to your site and higher conversion opportunities.
This is in stark contrast to old-school guest blogging, which involved networks distributing a keyword-filled article to various low-quality sites.
Today’s guest blogging strategies also include a focus on building relationships with people in well-known posts. Through connections, guest blogging services negotiate posting opportunities on behalf of their clients. Some are free and some charge a fee, and customers can post guest posts on A-list sites.
How Much Do Guest Blogging Services Cost?
There are several factors that go into the cost of guest blogging. Usually, you have to take into account the guest blog service or the website itself and the cost of the writer.
If you are paying a website to host your blog, it can cost anywhere from $ 150 to $ 1,000 per article. The cost of the publisher will be 10 cents per word or more, depending on the experience and difficulty of the content. For a 1,000 word article, it can cost a total of $ 250 or up to $ 1,100 or more.
To give you a better idea of the numbers, here is a breakdown of some possibilities for a 1,000-word article:
- For a mid-level domain authority link (20 or higher), you’ll pay $ 175 at The Hoth.
- For a high domain authority link (40 or more), you’ll pay $ 425 at The Hoth.
- With CEO Stellar, equivalent links would cost $ 167 and $ 367, respectively.
However, on A-list sites like Forbes, Huffington Post, or Entrepreneur, they can cost more than $ 1,000 per unit, according to Ahrefs.
When considering the cost of the writer, much will depend on the experience of the writer. Expect to pay a premium if you only want to work with someone who is an expert in their field, has years of experience, or is willing to meet your tight deadlines.
One final thought: there may be other associated costs that you will need to consider, such as whether you use a grammar checking service like Grammarly or need to include photos and purchase stock images from sites like Shutterstock or DepositPhotos. Although some sites, like Grammarly, are free, others require a payment that will be added to the final cost of your blog.
What Is The ROI?
One of the reasons that guest blogging has not disappeared is that there is enormous potential for digital marketing results, including:
- Increase in organic traffic
- Quality backlinks
- Higher referral traffic
- Increased brand exposure
Despite these benefits, it is difficult to link these results to hard numbers. It is important to note that the success of a campaign really depends on how it is carried out.
You can also take a look at the blog’s performance to get a general idea of its success. The tools you can use include:
- Google analytics
- Facebook Analytics when publishing the blog on social networks
- Social mentions
To give you another idea of what to expect, consider this case study:
A small business creating native mobile sites and apps posted 44 guest blogs over five months. As a result of this effort, the company’s website experienced a sustained increase in organic traffic (20%), the Domain Authority increased by 5 and received 38 quality backlinks.
This is a very solid result for an isolated effort. It’s the promise of an ROI like this, and even beyond, that gets marketers really excited about guest blogging strategies.
Top Guest Blogging Services Companies
Here are the top 4 guest blogging companies to consider:
BLOGGER LINKUP: This is one of the free services where you can find guest blogging opportunities. It connects bloggers who need content with marketers and companies who want to put content in exchange for links. There are different contracts with multiple payments and other information, so read them carefully to make sure you know what you are signing up for.
GROUPHIGH: This is a solution for big brands looking to incorporate blogger reach into their marketing strategy. Their service indexes millions of blogs so you can search them by keyword, topics covered, number of followers, and location. You can also see if the blog supports videos, guest posts, sponsored posts, ad networks, and giveaways.
MYBLOGGUEST: This is one of the most popular names when it comes to guest blogging communities. You can sign up for free to be listed as someone looking for guest bloggers or want to post to another blog in specific categories on the guest blogging forum. There is also a forum dedicated to those seeking help for the social promotion of their posts.
GUESTR: This site helps blog owners find new content from bloggers and helps guest bloggers and SEOs find guest posting opportunities to post their content and build links. It is currently a free service for website owners and those looking for guest posting opportunities.
Guest Blogging Services Best Practices
When looking for a guest blogging service, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
Avoid Black-hat Guest Blogging Services
First, make sure that the guest blogging provider you are partnering with has a good reputation. Google penalizes sites that use guest blogging schemes with spam, so you want to make sure that your chosen provider only uses white hat practices.
You should also ask to see some credentials for the sites where you will distribute your content. Check:
- High Domain Authority – Is it a respected publication that will send a lot of trust signals to your website?
- Public relevance – is it the type of website your customers would visit? How big is the audience? They are engaged?
- Editorial practices: how are backlinks handled? Do the posts look professional? Is the blog updated frequently?
Outline Your Goals and Expectations
Provide specific information on what you need to accomplish to make the campaign a success, so your guest blogging service can help you find the right solution.
- Are you more concerned about joining an A-list blog?
- Are you primarily focused on getting as many quality backlinks as possible without going over budget?
- If they are running into editorial roadblocks with the ideal publication, is the deadline a deal-breaker?
The last thing you want is to hand over your credit card and then find out that you and the provider were on different pages about where the guest blog should go, what it should cover, and what it should promote.
Vet Your Writers
Make sure the writers you are working with have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish with your blog post. Some things you may want to keep in mind:
Style: Can the writer achieve the type of post that you want to have? Do they understand the vocabulary you use? Can you do the research?
Experience: Have you written guest posts before? Articles in your niche? Content to support marketing goals?
Proven track record: Can the writer finish the project on time? On spec?
Any warning signs during the verification process should be a sign to find another editor for the project. It is important that you work with someone you can trust, as the results of your guest blogging strategy depend on your performance.
And, if you have any ideas you’d like to share on best practices for guest blogging, let us know in the comment section below.